The Witch Trials

GLOBAL RELEASE DATE: 30 OCTOBER 2026 SUMMARY TRACK LISTING REVIEWS INFO In The Witch Trials, Ellie Slorach and Kantos confront one of Britain’s darkest histories. Framed by spoken testimonies from the seventeenth-century Pendle trials in Lancashire, music by Byrd, Gesualdo, Allegri, Barbara Strozzi (arranged for the choir by Slorach herself) and Hildegard of Bingen stand beside new works by Rory Wainwright Johnston, Camden Reeves and Anna Disley-Simpson, creating a compelling dialogue across four centuries. Structured as a requiem for the accused, The Witch Trials explores fear, prejudice and the enduring persecution of women, balancing moments of extraordinary beauty with music of violent accusation and sometimes gleeful defiance. By placing masterpieces from the time face to face with powerful twenty-first-century responses, the programme reveals the unsettling persistence of these stories from four hundred years ago Coming Soon.... Reviews will appear here following release date Release Date: 30 October 2026 Recorded on 17-19 November 2025 at Hallé at St Michaels, Ancoats, Manchester Producer/Engineer: Paul Baxter 24-bit digital editing: Jack Davis 24-bit digital mastering: Paul Baxter Design: Drew Padrutt Booklet editor: Henry Howard Session photography: Ben Reason